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am testifying here today to bring a face to the harms occurring every day <br /> resulting from the <br /> unchecked power of the social media industry. This is my son Carson Bride with <br /> beautiful blue <br /> eyes, an amazing smile, and a great sense of humor, who will be forever 16 years <br /> old. As <br /> involved parents raising our two sons in Oregon, we thought we were doing <br /> everything right. <br /> We waited until Carson was in 8th grade to give him his first cell phone, an old <br /> phone with no apps. <br /> We talked to our boys about online safety and the importance of never sending <br /> anything online <br /> that you wouldn't want your name and face next to on a billboard. Carson <br /> followed these <br /> guidelines. Yet tragedy still struck our family. <br /> It was June 2020; Carson had just gotten his first summer job making pizzas, and <br /> after a <br /> successful first night of training, he wrote his upcoming work schedule on our <br /> kitchen calendar. <br /> We expressed how proud we were of him for finding a job during the pandemic. In <br /> so many <br /> ways, it was a wonderful night, and we were looking forward to summer. The next <br /> morning, <br /> woke to the complete shock and horror that Carson had hung himself in our <br /> garage while we <br /> slept. <br /> In the weeks that followed, we learned that Carson had been viciously <br /> cyberbullied by his <br /> 13 <br />